Menezes officers in new shooting

Officers involved in the fatal shooting of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes took part in another police operation which led to a man being shot dead, it has emerged.

The men were part of Scotland Yard's specialist CO19 firearms unit which supported Flying Squad detectives as they attempted to stop a suspected armed robbery.

The man, who has not been named, died in hospital after the incident at the Nationwide building society in New Romney, Kent, on Tuesday night.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has already launched an investigation after taking over an initial inquiry by Kent Police.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: "The Specialist Firearms team (CO19) involved in the Flying Squad operation in Kent did include officers from the same team who were involved in the Stockwell shooting in July last year.

"The Met has a small cadre of specialist highly-trained firearms officers who last year were deployed to 2,529 incidents and were involved in 938 pre-planned operations. They perform an extremely difficult but vital function responding to armed threats against the public and their unarmed colleagues and it is extremely rare for officers to fire their guns. It is deeply regrettable when anyone dies as a result of police action."

Scotland Yard would not comment on claims that one of the firearms officers who opened fire on Mr de Menezes shot the 42-year-old man during the suspected bank robbery in Kent.

Mr de Menezes, 27, was shot seven times in the head by anti-terror officers at Stockwell Tube station in south London on July 22 last year after being mistaken for a suicide bomber. In July two police firearms officers involved in his fatal shooting were cleared to return to full operational duties with the CO19 firearms unit. In accordance with protocol, both had immediately been suspended from operational duties in the wake of the incident.

The disclosure drew a furious reaction from the family of Mr de Menezes', who said they were "horrified" by the development.

A spokeswoman for the family said: "The family of Jean Charles de Menezes expressed shock and disbelief at the news that officers involved in the killing of Jean Charles have killed again. Family members were horrified to learn that the same officers have been given a licence to kill again even before the investigative process into Jean's death is complete."